Drifting On a Deep Sea
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: A serum developed by Metal Alice turns Robo Knight into a human. Troy and the others try to help him navigate his newfound humanity.


At first, Troy looks up from his spot on the ground and fails to see anything through the smoke and the dust. As he pushes himself up with his sword, he's looking for a tint of reflective metal, of bulky circuitry and shiny armor.

The explosion had knocked them all back, and beside him his teammates stand up.

"Where's Robo Knight?" Emma asks, but Troy doesn't answer.

He can't see their robotic friend through the dust, but he takes a few cautious steps forward. Robo Knight had been right in the middle of fighting Metal Alice when her machine had exploded… had he paid the price? Troy begins thinking through scenarios of kidnap, time travel, and even of destruction, until his eyes catch on a small human figure lying on the ground in the middle of the destruction.

"Oh no!" Noah says, and the five of them rush towards the civilian as Troy wonders how he could have survived getting caught in the crossfire.

"Are you alright?" Gia says, helping the young man to sit up.

He's… completely naked, and as Troy realizes it he politely looks away, though none of the others seem fazed.

"I appear to be intact," the man says, and then he glances at his hands and freezes.

The horror that crosses his face makes Troy look back at him fully, and as the young man looks up and around at the rangers, his scared eyes fix on Troy.

"What has happened to me?" He asks, suddenly reaching and feeling his face, his chest. "What is this body?"

Gia's head snaps back, and she looks quickly across at Emma before looking back at the man. "What do you mean?"

The man looks at her, and then gestures to himself. "I am… _human_."

"Robo Knight?" Noah's voice says from behind Troy, and Troy's eyes widen.

Troy demorphs, and the other rangers follow suit, gathering around their now human friend. Troy takes off his jacket and steps behind Robo Knight, draping it down onto his shoulders and then looking around cautiously.

"We need to get him out of here," Troy tells the others.

They nod. "Preferably before the police show up and arrest him for indecent exposure!" Jake says, taking off his own overhead sweater and then making a face as he tries to tie it around Robo Knight's waist.

Emma and Noah help Robo Knight up, but he fumbles, his legs unsteady, and a noise escapes his throat that seems to bother him even more than his lack of ability to walk.

"Are you okay?" Emma asks, holding tight to Robo Knight's arm.

Robo Knight shakes his head uncertainly. "I… do not know. I am not capable of running a system diagnostic on this mortal body."

Noah shoots Troy a look, as if to say he is both amused and horrified at all of this, but Troy is pulling out his morpher.

"Tensou," he says into it, not waiting for the little robot to respond, "We need an emergency transport for us and for… for the human in direct proximity to us."

The world shimmers away in red light.

* * *

"We didn't see it happen," Gia is explaining to Gosei, "But as soon as the dust cleared, there he was… just, human."

"I see," Gosei says, seeming to consider this. "Robo Knight, do you recall what happened directly before your transformation?"

"Metal Alice injected my circuitry with some sort of green liquid," he supplies, and Tensou makes a frantic noise.

"Oh no," he says, whirling around, "She can turn Robots into humans? Can she turn humans into robots, too?"

"Calm down, Tensou," Godei says, silencing their small robotic friend. Lights flicker on and off around Gosei's head as Tensou starts driving in quiet circles around Robo Knight, with what Troy assumes is some sort of medical reader. "Robo Knight, it appears as though Metal Alice's intentions to destroy you have resulted in her present plan. As a human, she must believe you pose less of a threat. Tensou, is he stable?"

"Vital signs all accounted for Gosei," Tensou says, stopping just long enough to address their mentor, "As far as humans go, he's as fit as a horse!"

"Is it reversible?" Emma wonders, eyeing Robo Knight worriedly.

"Only time will tell," Gosei continues, "We will have to wait until Metal Alice surfaces again to learn more."

"Well that shouldn't be long," Jake quips, and everyone makes one face of agreement or other. The attacks from their enemies have only been intensifying lately, in both frequency and force.

"In the meantime," Gosei says, his usually strong voice going a bit soft, "It appears that you will have to live as a human, Robo Knight."

Robo Knight looks at Gosei and nods bravely, which Troy has to admit he admires. This can't be easy for him.

"Rangers, I will need you to assist Robo Knight with his newfound humanity for the time being," Gosei says.

Jake huffs. "Great, yeah, of course. Power Rangers, baby sitters, I mean the two are practically synonymous."

Gia swats Jake's arm hard enough he grimaces. "Of course we will, Gosei. And I'd say the first thing we ought to do is get him some clothes," she giggles, and Jake looks mildly offended.

* * *

They wind up at Noah's house, because he and Robo Knight have the most similar builds, but as it turns out, not similar enough, because none of Noah's clothes quite fit Robo Knight. They end up finding a pair of sweats that just barely fit him but are far too short, and an old, holey T-shirt.

When they come down the stairs to find the girls sitting at the table, Gia immediately gives them an annoyed look. Emma just looks embarrassed on Robo Knight's behalf.

"You've got to be kidding me," Gia says, standing up from her seat at Noah's kitchen table and walking over to Robo Knight. "This is the best you could do?"

"He has like, huge hips!" Noah objects, pointing between his own and Robo Knight's. "None of my pants fit him, and his you know, muscles are like," Noah makes a wavy hand motion, and Gia rolls her eyes.

"Alright," she says, looking at Robo Knight determinedly, "I guess it's up to me and daddy's emergency credit card, then."

"You're dad will really count shopping as an emergency?" Jake wonders, and Gia just shrugs.

"I won't have any spending money for a few months, but hey," she says, smacking Robo Knight on the back, "What are friends for?"

Robo Knight looks up for the first time since they arrived at Noah's house and began prodding him. "I do not know," he tells Gia, "You are my only friends."

For a moment, all of the rangers are silent with the sincerity of those words coming out of a human mouth. It had been one thing when Robo Knight, as a robot, had called them his only friends. Now it feels… a little sad.

Gia snaps back first, nods sympathetically, and pats Robo Knight's shoulder. "Yes we are," she assures him.

Before leaving Noah's house, Troy manages to find Robo Knight a pair of Noah's father's flip-flops.

"For your feet," Troy tells him at Robo Knight's curious look, and he indicates his own sneakers, "To protect them."

"I do not see what protection such a garment could offer," Robo Knight says, taking the flip-flops anyway, "But I will submit to your superior knowledge of human clothing and customs. I have never worn shoes before," he tells Troy after he has bent down to put them on.

Troy offers Robo Knight what he hopes is a reassuring grin.

They walk to Emma's, who is able to borrow her parent's car to drive them to the outlet mall across town. Gia assures them it's the only place they'll be able to find everything he needs, even as Jake argues that the target in town would easily suffice.

"I'm not going to buy him something he'll wear out in a week," she tells Jake in a very final tone, "We're doing this the right way."

"It's a good thing it's the weekend," Noah says to Emma, who giggles appreciatively.

Really, Troy thinks, because if they all had homework to get done tonight, they'd never get back in time to finish. At least they'll have a day to figure out Robo Knight's situation before they have to go back to school.

When they reach the mall, Gia takes them right to a large men's department store. Robo Knight get's distracted on the way, asking what the function of this thing or that is, and Noah and Emma try to explain things like drinking fountains and sunglasses and spinning doors.

The department store is full of a variety of clothes and accessories, but instead of stopping to browse, Gia heads for a good looking sales associate in a bright pink shirt. Troy follows, wondering what she's doing.

"Hi there," she says, and the sales associate greets her back. "Actually yes, I do need some help. My friend over there," she points at Robo Knight, "See, he just lost everything in an apartment fire. All his clothes, his shoes, he only has what he was sleeping in."

"Oh, how tragic," the sales associate says, putting a hand to his mouth and straining to look at Robo Knight.

"Yeah, so we need to replace his wardrobe, you know, shirts, pants, shoes, jackets, the whole shebang, as quickly as possible so he can get on with taking care of the rest of his belongings, and I'd really appreciate some help," Gia says, taking to this sale associate like he's a good friend, and laying on her charm.

The sales associate nods emphatically, and says, "Let me get my measuring tape and we'll get started right away."

He scurries off, and Gia turns to Troy, who raises his eyebrows at her. "What?" She asks innocently.

Troy raises his eyebrows higher, tilts his head down in a reprimanding way.

Gia rolls her eyes. "It'll keep him from asking too many questions and we'll be out of here in no time," she says, turning Troy back towards the others, and putting her hands on his shoulders to make him walk, "Don't look at me like that. I'd like to have seen you go up to him and tell the truth."

The sales associate comes by, and introduces himself as Garret, and starts measuring Robo Knight right away. Robo Knight looks slightly alarmed, but Gia puts a hand on his arm to reassure him.

Jake grumbles something impolite and gets smacked on the back of the head by Noah.

"Okay, Mr…." Garret hesitates, and Robo Knight tilts his head.

"Uh,R-r-Rob!" Gia says quickly, and Emma grins. "His name is Rob."

"Right, well," Garret says, "I'll be right back with some selections for you. In the meantime, why don't you browse?"

"Rob?" Troy asks as soon as Garret it out of earshot. "Rob? That's the best you could do?"

Gia grins and smacks him lightly on the chest. "That okay with you, Robo Knight?"

Robo Knight frowns. "Rob," he tries out, seeming to listen to the way it sounds. After a moment he nods and agrees, "My name is Rob."

Gia laughs, and then begins going through the racks and pulling out things for _Rob_ to try on.

Emma helps at first, but as she confides after a moment she isn't good at searching for men's clothes. Jake agrees by saying he hates shopping. "Go wait, its fine," Gia says, pushing through the racks and pulling out more things, passing them to Robo Kni-_Rob_ to hold, "I have four brothers, I'm a veteran, don't worry about it."

So Troy, Jake, Noah and Emma end up standing over by the cologne bar, watching the chaos and poor Robo Knight's confusion.

"Uh, guys?" Jake says, drawing their attention back a while later. "I'm sure Gia is going to make sure Robo Knight is very stylish, but we still have one other big problem. Where is he going to stay? I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I can't exactly bring home a random dude and tell my parents he's moving in!"

Emma chews her lip. "My parents would probably let him stay, but our house is small. He'd have to share my room, and that part they would not be okay with."

"He can stay at my place," Troy says decisively, shoving his hands in his pockets, "No one will mind."

"Are you sure?" Noah asks, and Troy shrugs, deciding not to answer. Noah makes a face, but continues, "What are we going to do without him on the team? He doesn't have power now, and we were really sort of depending on him lately."

"We'll figure it out," Emma says, placing a gentle hand on Noah's arm reassuringly, "We'll have to. He can't fight like this, not without being a ranger."

Jake scoffs. "Who's going to tell him that?"

Troy turns his head and looks back over at their newly human teammate, who is holding garment after garment that Gia and the salesman heap on the pile in his arms and looking more and more confused. Something occurs to Troy then. "How long has he been human now?"

"A couple of hours," Noah answers, glancing at his watch.

"They'll be at this for a couple more," Troy says, and he glances back at Jake and Emma, "Maybe you guys ought to go get some food. He's going to need to eat eventually, and something tells me it's going to be a difficult time convincing him if the food isn't already here."

Emma nods, and she tugs on Jake's shirt to drag him out the doors, and he complains about being sent on an errand without Gia.

Troy and Noah stand in silence after they go, watching as Gia finally leads Robo Knight into a dressing room to try things on.

"It's got to be strange," Noah says after a while, and Troy raises his eyebrows questioningly, "You know, to one minute know who you are, and then the next be something completely different. He must feel really… lost."

Troy nods, because he doesn't quite know what to say to that. He knows how it feels, of course, but that's an entirely different story, and he doesn't want to bring it up with Noah right now.

So they sit in silence until Jake and Emma come back with a variety of things from the food court.

"We didn't know what he'd like!" Jake insists at Noah's look, as Emma looks mischievous and guilty at the same time beside him, "So we got him some variety."

Jake bribes Noah with waffle fries, and Troy just shakes his head at all of them.

* * *

By the time Gia heads over to the cash register to check out the mall is about to close.

Gia had let Robo Knight try some of the food while she finished getting his dressing room ready, and then they had disappeared all evening.

As Garrett the cashier packs bag after bag full of purchases, Gia hands him several tags she's holding in her hand.

"What are those?" Troy wonders, and Gia waves her hand at him absently.

"Tags off the ones he's wearing out," Gia says, and she slides her card through the debit reader with ease.

Troy turns back to look for Robo Knight—for _Rob_, he reminds himself—and as he's scanning the store he worries for a moment before realizing that the young man standing in the isle looking at the mannequins _is_ Robo Knight.

Gia has dressed Robo Knight up like a male model. He's wearing a tight v-necked Henley and a brown leather jacket, well fitted jeans and expensive brown boots. Gia even seems to have styled his light brown hair.

Robo Knight turns around to them, seems to realize all of the rangers are staring at him, and waves at them.

He seems to look more human than any of them do, and it's unnerving.

"Darling," Emma says, coming up and getting between Gia and Troy at the counter, "You don't think you've gone a little bit overboard?"

Gia raises an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong?" Gia says, glancing back at Robo Knight as he stands casually in the isle, "Did I make him too attractive?"

Emma pinches her, and Troy rolls his eyes at them.

Instead of continuing to stare at their newly human friend, Troy begins loading up Jake and Noah with the bags, and the six of them make the trek back to the car with the purchases and head back to Emma's house.

"We'll have to talk to him about not fighting with us," Noah whispers to Troy as they drive, giving him a meaningful look.

"I'll do it tonight," Troy agrees, watching the others talk about how nice Robo Knight looks, "Though I'm not sure how I'm supposed to explain having a male model sleep over without getting looks."

Noah snickers beside him.

* * *

"There are some things we need to talk about," Troy tells Robo Knight as they make the long trek back to his apartment, "Firstly, don't tell the others where I live."

Robo Knight looks over at him with his head tilted. He's carrying two suit cases Emma lent him, full of all his new clothes and shoes, and has an old backpack slung over one shoulder to make it look at least a little bit like he's a student who might go to Troy's school. He still looks a little too old for that, though.

"I will not reveal the location of your residence," Robo Knight agrees, "Though I do not understand the reason for secrecy."

They're already past the high way into the lower east side. "It's not the nicest part of town," Troy supplies, and Robo Knight seems to nods.

"Secondly, until we get you, you know, back to being not human, you can't help us fight," Troy continues, and Robo Knight stops walking.

Troy stops too, and turns to stare at him. Robo Knight's eyes are wide, and there might be a hint of anger in them. "I am charged with protecting-"

"You have no powers," Troy interrupts, "No armor, no skills. You're mortal now, Robo Knight, and if you go out and get in a fight with Vrak or one of his minions, you could die."

Robo Knight takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Is this an order?" He wonders.

"Yes," Troy confirms, lifting his head a bit, "It is absolutely an order. And it's also a request, as your friend."

"You are my friend," Robo Knight says slowly, "But you do not wish me to fight at your side anymore."

"I am your friend, and I don't want to see you get hurt," Troy corrects, and then he turns and keeps walking, because he doesn't want to argue about it and because it's already dark out and he doesn't want to be out on these streets at night.

"And what of Metal Alice and the serum that caused my transformation?" Robo Knight says as he catches up to Troy. "Am I to leave those things, which concern my very being, to you as well?"

"If you trust me," Troy says slowly, "Then yes."

Robo Knight considers this for a long time while they walk, his face contorted as he thinks. Troy thinks of the phrase 'wheels turning in his head', and smirks a little at the fact that this is the first time he's ever looked this way, even though it's the first time he's never had wheels in his head.

"I trust you," Robo Knight says at last, "Though I am conflicted."

"Welcome to being human," Troy tells him, and he turns left into his apartment complex.

They climb the stairs to the third floor, and Troy leads Robo Knight past the apartment with the crime tape over it and tells him to watch his step as they go past Ms. Hernandez's kids toys left strewn over the walkway, and then they reach his door.

Troy gets his key out and looks back at Robo Knight. "Just," he starts, and hesitates. Robo Knight lifts an eyebrow. "Just don't talk a lot. Be, you know, terse."

"Terse," Robo Knight agrees, nodding, "Alright."

Troy nods, wonders what he's getting himself into, and keys open the door.

* * *

Lisa and Jonathan are already home.

Lisa is standing at the stove with a cardboard food box in her hands, and a puzzled look on her face. Troy is glad he had something to eat at the mall.

Jonathan is up on the ladder, trying again to patch the leak in their roof with cheap spackle and newspaper.

As Troy and Robo Knight enter the small, worn apartment, Lisa looks over at them first with a smile and then with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, Troy and co," she says, a small smile on her face, "What's up?"

Troy nods back at his sister. "This is my friend Rob," Troy says, glancing back at Robo Knight, whose face is blank, "From school. We're working on a project, so he's going to stay here for a while."

Jonathan steps down from the ladder he's on, jar of spackle still in his dirty hands. "Stay here?" he laughs, coming over, "Are you sure he's not an escaped convict or a mental patient?"

Troy swats his brother on his arm, and then makes a face when his fingers get wet. He shakes them off and then wipes them on his pants.

"I am perfectly sane," Robo Knight says, and Troy ignores the instinct to wince and instead laughs like Rob's made a joke.

"Yeah, so we'll be back in my room working," Troy says, grabbing onto Robo Knights jacket and tugging him along back down the narrow hallway to his small room. Until Robo Knight learns what sarcasm and insult puns are, he probably shouldn't spend too much time with Troy's siblings.

"You know where the extra cot is," Lisa calls after them, and then, "And we're having Lasagna for dinner. Maybe."

"Yeah," Jonathan jokes, scoffing, "Because one bathroom wasn't hard enough with three people."

Troy ignores them and takes Robo Knight back to the end of the hallway, right past the bathroom, where a dark red curtain hands over his doorway in place of where the door should be. He shifts it aside and pulls Robo Knight into the already cramped space.

His cot is against one wall, his small work desk pressed against the wall across from the door, and he throws his stuff down on his cot and begins clearing out the clothes from the opposite side of the room. He shoves them under his own cot and into corners. Robo Knight sets his suitcases down and watches.

Troy eventually clears a big enough space, and then he goes back into the hallway, opens the small closet, and pulls out an extra cot, and a blanket.

He sets it up for Robo Knight across from his own, on the opposite wall, and then he picks up Robo Knight's suitcases from where he'd set them down and shoves them underneath the cot.

"There we are," Troy says, glancing back over at Robo Knight, "It's not exactly the Ritz, but, it's a place to stay."

As though this is permission, Robo Knight begins surveying Troy's room. He looks it up and down, studies the cots, and looks out the window before saying, "Your room is smaller than Noah's."

Troy knows he doesn't mean it to be insulting, so he just huffs a little and says, "My room is smaller than most people's, Robo Knight."

Robo Knight looks over at him. "Rob," he corrects, tilting his head, "I am no longer a robot."

"Right," Troy says quickly, "Sorry." He hadn't realized Robo Knight wanted them to use his new name even in private situations.

He goes over to his backpack, which is hanging on the back of his desk chair, and opens it and pulls out some textbooks to toss around the room in case Lisa or Jonathan ask what project they're working on.

He doubts they will. His siblings are… laid back about his school work. They know Troy takes it seriously, they know he'd ask for help if he needed it, but Jonathan dislikes school and authority figures in general, and thinking about school… makes Lisa sadder than Troy likes to see her.

Robo Knight is sitting on his cot, staring around the little room, like he's trying to analyze it and remembering he can't.

"Your cohabitates," Robo Knight says, and Troy frowns as he looks back at him, "They are not your parents."

"Uh," Troy says, realizing what Robo Knight's asking, "No. Lisa and Jonathan are my siblings. Sorry, I should have introduced them."

Robo Knight pauses. "It was my understanding that most human adolescents shared living spaces with their parents."

"Yeah," Troy agrees easily, flipping through his math book, "But I don't."

"I see," Robo Knight says, clearly not understanding but not wanting to ask more.

As new to being human as he is, he does seem to have observed some things about humans, and when to stop asking questions is apparently one of them.

Troy sits down at his desk chair, checks over his list of homework to see if anything else needs doing, and, when it doesn't, he and Robo Knight sit quietly in the room.

It isn't awkward, exactly. Boring, maybe. But its clear Robo Knight has a lot on his mind.

Eventually Lisa brings them in some heated up Lasagna that's still mostly cold in the middle, but Troy tells her it's delicious and his sister squeezes his shoulder gratefully.

"You told her it was good," Robo Knight says later, after she's gone, "When your facial features while eating it indicated otherwise. Why?"

"Sometimes family and friends do that for each other," Troy says, getting up and pulling out shorts and a shirt to sleep in. He hears the shower turn on, knows its Jonathan showering now so that he can shower in the morning if he needs to. "When someone works hard on something, and you care about them, sometimes you tell them they did a good job so that they'll try again, instead of giving up."

"It was my understanding lying was bad," Robo Knight says, his voice sounding concerned.

"It's not lying," Troy says, and maybe he snaps a little as he says it. "Look, being a human is complicated. You can't pick all of it up in one day. Let's just get ready for bed, okay?"

Robo Knight glances at the clothes in Troy's hand, then he nods, says "Alright," quietly, and begins pulling his new sleepwear out of Emma's suitcase.

* * *

Troy wakes up sometime in the night, which isn't unusual. He can only really lay on one side for so long in this cheap cot before something falls asleep and he has to turn over, so he's used to it.

He doesn't ever really sleep well.

But he rolls over and is closing his eyes again when he thinks he's just seen something off, so he opens them to see a figure sitting up on the cot across from him in the dark.

Robo Knight. Human. In Troy's room. Right.

"Robo Knight?" Troy mumbles, squinting in the dark, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Robo Knight looks up from the floor, the street light from the window behind him providing an eerie silhouette to his moves.

"I do not know how to sleep," he says quietly, and Troy wonders what time it is, "I have never slept before."

Troy brings a hand up to rub at his tired eyes. "You should have said something earlier."

"The tone of your voice indicated you were upset. I did not want to inconvenience you further," Robo Knight says gently, and then his head droops a little again. "And I am not tired."

"Well," Troy says, readjusting his pillow and laying his head back down, because there's no point in sitting up since they'll just be sitting in the dark, "You need to sleep. Human's need sleep to function. You'll be exhausted tomorrow if you don't sleep tonight."

Robo Knight is silent for a moment, and Troy finds himself starting to drift off when Robo Knight says, "I am… unable to stop thinking about the events of this afternoon."

Troy opens his eyes again, not sure when he'd closed them. "What d'you mean?"

"It is something Metal Alice said, before she injected me with the serum," Robo Knight says, and then he stops again, and Troy hears the hesitation.

"What did she say?" He wonders, and this time he does sit up a little, propping himself up on his elbow.

"She said… 'You want to be with the humans so badly, I'll make you one'," Robo Knight says, and Troy might imagine it in the dark, but he thinks he see's Robo Knight shake his head. "Each time I think about it, my chest constricts, and," he pauses, and he holds out his wrist in front of him and puts his other hand over it, "My pulse quickens. I do not understand why."

Troy almost smirks. "Its anxiety," Troy says, and Robo Knight looks up, startled, "Fear. You're remembering what happened to you and you're feeling afraid."

"Fear," Robo Knight repeats, like he can't believe what he's hearing.

"Human's feel fear all the time," Troy says, trying to sound comforting, "Especially when something unexpected happens. You get used to it."

"I am feeling fear," Robo Knight says quietly, and then he holds up his hands and looks at them. "I am human," he says resolutely, "And I am afraid."

Troy watches him hold his hands out in front of him and feels a great lump of pity rise up in his throat, because knows the uncertainty in Robo Knight's voice a little too well.

"Look," Troy says, sitting up all the way and pushing back his covers, "When I was younger, and I couldn't sleep because I was afraid, my mom would play a game with me. Lie down," he tells Robo Knight, and Robo Knight, clearly still trusting Troy's knowledge of humanity over his own doubts, obeys.

Hey lays down flat on his back, his head on the pillow, and Troy comes over and tucks the blanket in around him, under his feet, and around his neck.

"There," Troy says, "Now you're all tucked in, and all the bad thoughts can't get you."

Robo Knight looks confused, even in the dim light. "Does this fabric possess some magical power against the feelings of fear?"

Troy grins. "Human children think so."

Robo Knight hums, considering.

"Close your eyes," Troy says, kneeling on the floor next to him, his bare knees hitting the cold wood. "I want you to take whatever it is your afraid of, and picture yourself rolling it up into a ball in your hands."

Robo Knight's eyebrows furrow. "I cannot roll up Metal Alice," he says, like this is obvious."

"Pretend you can," Troy says, trying not to laugh, "Use your imagination. Roll the whole afternoon into a ball. Throw it back and forth between your hands, feel how heavy it is."

Robo Knight still looks irate, but he sighs and shifts his head a little, and Troy wonders what he's seeing.

"Now take that stress ball, and blow air into it, until it becomes a balloon. It's going to get lighter, and lighter, until it just floats away and can't bother you anymore," Troy says, and Robo Knight opens one eyes like he just can't figure out how he's supposed to do this, and Troy grins. "Every time you start thinking about it, roll it up, blow it into a balloon, and let it go. And try to sleep."

"I will try," Robo Knight concedes, and Troy calls that a win and crawls back over to his own bed tiredly.

"Troy?" Robo Knight asks, when Troy is back in his cot and under his blanket.

"Yeah?" Troy answers.

"Does this method work for you?" Robo Knight wonders, turning his head to look at Troy in the dark.

"Sometimes," Troy says sadly, "But not always. There are something's that… that don't just go away that easily."

"I see," Robo Knight says, turning his head back up towards the ceiling, "And what do you do then, to sleep?"

Troy hesitates. Most of the time, he doesn't. But that answer isn't going to help Robo Knight. "I try to think of something that makes me feel good. Something that's more powerful than the fear."

There's a pause, and then Robo Knight sounds more confident as he says, "Then I will think of you," he says, and Troy makes a curious face, "And the rangers. For you are good, and you are more powerful than Metal Alice."

Troy lets out a little puff of air, amused, and he closes his eyes. "Okay," he agrees, "Sweet dreams, then."

"You as well," Robo Knight says, sounding much more like himself, and he closes his eyes firmly.

Troy falls back asleep with a smile on his face, wishing he had the kind of faith in anything that Robo Knight now had in the rangers.


End file.
